ODA Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 Ok, so I've read just about every thread imaginable on this board and done as much research as I can all over the web. Based on other people's thoughts and experiences, wanted to run the following setup by the more experienced folks. Here is what I have so far: AGA MiniBow 7 ga Retrofit CustomSeaLife 32W SmartLite retro kit Ebo Jager 50W Heater So those were the easy things to decide. Now here's the dilemna...flow rate, etc. Initially, I was considering 2 RIO 50s to create flow/movement in the tank, but after reading reviews of powerheads, I kinda got scared away from RIOs because of quality and am now considering Maxijets/Minijets. I understand placement is a thing you have to play around with, so fine. So here's what I think now: As far as disturbing surface water tension, my thought now is to get an Aquaclear 500 and run it at the lowest possible setting, possibly even shaving the impellers to make it flow even less. I want to couple this with either a maxijet 400 or a minijet 404 to produce optimal water movement. The thought behind the AQ 500, is that in the future, I can convert it to a refugium (is this even possible/easy?). Am I being too ambitious? To me, it seems the fuge is more for a cool factor than necessity, but then again, it seems the benefits are just far too good to pass up. Being a complete newbie to the hobby, however, should I scrap the idea and start simple? Other than that, I have the standard necessary items already purchased: Hydrometer Thermometer Tropic Marin salt RIO 600 for mixing Soon to be purchasing LR/LS. Am I making this whole thing too complex, overdoing it, missing the point completely? Please share your thoughts! Thanks! Link to comment
DEXX34 Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 Yeah, I'd go with the minijet. all in all sounds as though you have it pretty well planned out... One thing I have wondered about people wanting to turn the AC 500 into a fuge is why not seal off the impeller housing with a small acrylic plate and use a minijet on low setting with some small pvc+elbow to pump water into fuge? anyone see a problem with this? seems relatively easy enough to me and no dickin' with shavin' yer impeller. a HOB and a minijet should give you plenty of flow though. Link to comment
DEXX34 Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 btw, have you searched for members minibows on this site? some peeps here have some killer setups! Link to comment
ODA Posted February 28, 2003 Author Share Posted February 28, 2003 No one goes into details. It's always, I have blah blah blah with blah blah blah. But no one talks about, oh yeah, definitely some heat problems from the light, so I did this to remedy. Or, this is how I hooked up my refugium, or this is where I place stuff. Ack...I've searched on different things and people are good about explaining the purpose of things and the benefits as well as where to purchase, but no one goes into great depth about setting up. Link to comment
Orange Crush Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 I'm not going to offer you a lot of detailed help here, but I do hope to point you in the right direction. For powerheads, unless you've already purchased, I suggest you get one of these from Dave. They're tiny (check out adinsxq's pics in the thread) and powerful. For detailed setup information, esp retrofitting the CSL into the hood and adding fans for heat, check out Gilman's 7-bow. He also has a message board there specifically for the minibows and he journals absolutely everything. Almost enough to put ya to sleep Finally, for a minibow on steroids and to consider your future options, check out Glazer's Minibow. Absolutely incredible. HTH Link to comment
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